Apropos of yesterday’s round-up of Russian social unrest: the children of Russia’s 1%.
“на один процент” is “one percent” in Russian
Stranger Than Fiction
This essay from Adrian Barnes at The Daily Beast on cancer and fiction and how the two mirror one another is eerie and fascinating. This review of Rebecca Solnit’s The Faraway Nearby from The Millions addresses this tendency of writing and real world illnesses to feed of of one another.
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It’s cool, he senses the danger of genius
John Jeremiah Sullivan spoke to the Guardian about writing, Pulphead, and "finding that island of legitimacy." And then there's his recent NYT Magazine piece on Venus and Serena Williams.
A Space Odyssey
Arthur C. Clarke’s science fiction is becoming reality. In 2014, a few strands of the late author's hair will travel on the first solar-powered spacecraft, which is named after his story, “Sunjammer.”
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For Her
Leave it to Roxane Gay to come up with a novel format for an essay on the feminist novel. In the new issue of Dissent, she presents eleven theses on the topic, including references to Toni Morrison’s Beloved, Erica Jong’s Fear of Flying, and Jeanette Winterson’s Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit. Sample quote: “Not every novel that concerns itself with the lives of women is a feminist novel. Fifty Shades of Grey is not a feminist novel.” You could also read our own Edan Lepucki on the problem with feminist anthems.
Don’t Be Her
Want to be a female travel writer? That's great, says Jessa Crispin, just please don't be Elizabeth Gilbert.
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